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My Bio

Des Portrait.jpg

I am a photographic artist living in Sedgefield on the Garden Route, South Africa.


I have spent the past 40+ years honing my craft specializing in Automotive Photography
for the Advertising Industry, leading to numerous local and international awards.
In between my commercial assignments, I have always photographed seascapes,
landscapes, textures and abstracts for my personal pleasure.


Back-lighting and side lighting are my preferred lighting directions, often combined with
cloudy weather to add drama and excitement to the scene.


These fine art images do not necessarily reflect what was actually there to be
photographed - a camera is a machine that captures the image – but my interpretation of
what I felt and wanted to express at the time of capturing the image and thereafter working
on them in my digital darkroom.


I am intrigued by really long exposures (up to 15 minutes) and multiple in camera
exposures as this is where I can only imagine what the final image could look like, I love
the fluidity of movement of all the non-static elements in the image, particularly water and
clouds and actively search for locations and subjects that are conducive to this shooting
technique.


I shoot on my Canon 50 Megapixel Camera System.


My goal is to achieve an end result that reflects my vision and intention at the time - not
necessarily reality - and in doing so, to bring pleasure to the collector.

My Artist Statement

I use photography to self-express and to document the world around me.


I take photographs for myself, to identify with the secluded qualities of my character, to
better understand my reality, and to express my interpretation of the world around me.


A clearer understanding of myself and of my world allows me to explore fragments of life
as an abstract form, and also to interact with people I would otherwise not be able to
engage with.


My photography is a means to document the world around me. I make photographs that
call attention to things that other people overlook. This exploration of the overlooked helps
me engage more with where I am in space and time.


My choice of subject comes from a place of intuition and is fuelled by an impetuous desire
to partake in the stories that unfold around me. I seek the unknown and I look for the light
within the shadows, the stories that are not at first obvious and the uncommon in the
common.


My photography evokes the passage of time.


I sometimes use ultra slow shutter speeds and multiple in camera exposures to explore
the nuances of movement and the modulation of time as it passes from past to present to
future.


My photographs attempt to illustrate abstract, evocative scenery as a motif to epitomize the
idea of imagined space, a reminder that what I create through the viewfinder is only real to
me.

Galleries Where I Have Exhibited , Exhibit At Present

The Gallery at Grande Provence – Franschoek, South Africa

West Coast Gallery – Velddrif , South Africa

London Unlimited – Chelsea, London, UK

Le Roux Gallery, Wilderness, South Africa

The Views Boutique Hotel, Wilderness, South Africa. (Solo)

Hemisphere Fine Arts Gallery, Plettenberg Bay, South Africa. (Solo)

Sky Villa Gallery, Plettenberg Bay, South Africa.

Andy B Art Gallery – Sedgefield, South Africa.

Cloud 9 Boutique Hotel, Sedgefield, South Africa. (Solo)

Cornerstone Creek Gallery, Hoekwil, South Africa.

Gallery @ Remax, The Lakes, Sedgefield, South Africa. (Solo)

Exposure Gallery, Woodstock, South Africa

Art Source Africa, Plettenberg Bay, South Africa

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